Weather Guess

Hi Everybuddy -

It's no secret that I've been less than amused with the weather lately. Apparently I'm not alone. My blog pal Meeshka is thinking of starting a Claws Action Lawsuit against all of the weather people that promise us snow and nothing happens. It's definately true........recently the weather people in our area have been wrong, wrong, and wrong again! Imagine Mom's surprise when she got this email report the other day. Take a look:

Do you see the question marks? What's up with that??! That appears to be a weather guess not a weather report. I guess that's one way for them to admit - they have no clue!

"Cut me a break!!"

I just don't know what the answer is but pretty soon our flowers are going to start to bloom. We think somebuddy in weatherland is very confused!

A Horse's Legacy

Hi Everybuddy -

Today marks the one year anniversary of the death of an icon in the equine world. It was a year ago today that Barbaro lost his battle with a long list of medical issues resulting from a complex leg fracture while running in the Preakness Stakes in May 2006.





He was immediately rushed to a state of the art equine care facility - the New Bolton Center - a division of the University of Pennsylvania located in the Philadelphia suburbs. Typically a horse faced with this type of injury is immediately euthanized, primarily due to the cost of repairing a fracture and the long rehabilitation road that the animal and it's family would face. These milestones are not easily faced with an animal tipping the scales at over 1,000 lbs. Barbaro's owners have been in the racing business for many years and have been successful. They are different than many racehorse owners. They truly care about their horses and develop strong bonds with them. Barbaro was like a member of their family. It didn't matter that clearly, his racing days were over far too quickly and he would no longer produce the projected earnings most owners would hope for. Due to their love for his very large personality, they wanted him to be able to retire to their pastures and live the rest of his life in comfort. For this, they would spend whatever they needed to with no hesitation. Their only requirement was a simple one - Barbaro was not to suffer without any hope for recovery or quality of life. This was a tall order for his caregiver - Dr. Dean Richardson. He would ultimately be left with the final decision at any given moment. His expertise took Barbaro through numerous surgical procedures to repair his injured leg. It seemed to be working. In the end a series of conditions including laminitis in the left rear hoof, an abscess in the right rear hoof, as well as a new case of laminitis in both front feet led to the heart wrenching decision to let him go. Archived updates regarding Barbaro's treatment and progress can be found here. Over the past year many have criticized Barbaro's owners and caregivers. They have accused them of prolonging his suffering for financial gain. Despite many reports, though the option was there, they never harvested his sperm for the future. Any of his caregivers that have been interviewed have stated he was feisty, mischievous, and as active as he could be under the circumstances on most days. His pain was carefully monitored and controlled at every moment. So many fell in love with this magnificent horse and came to admire his zest for life. He did not die in vain. Treating a horse with such severe issues was previously undheard of. Many of the techniques used were new and no one knew whether they would be effective. Much was gained regarding the treatment of laminitis and it gives new hope to other horse owners who may otherwise have had no treatment options for their injured horses.

The Barbaro Fund at New Bolton has raised more than $1.3 million dollars and is still growing. The money is being put towards the equine facility's expansion and upgraded equipment so that they can be better prepared for other equines with similar issues. Barbaro's owners have also developed a $3 million endowment named for Dr. Richardson at the University of Pennsylvania's veterinary school to study advanced equine diseases. This will save many more equines in the future. In addition Barbaro devotees have raised more than $800,000 and have saved more than 1,950 horses from slaughter.

Our girl is very involved in the equestrian world. We have been around horses for several years now and have come from knowing absolutely nothing, to having such an appreciation for these magnificent animals. Their personalities and traits are complex, yet fascinating. They are unlike any other animal and their beauty is often breathtaking. We have yet to meet a horse that in it's own way is not hauntingly beautiful somehow, even those caked with dirt from a good roll in the mud. The sport is not without risk and there is much to learn. We are currently nursing a concussion our girl received on Saturday from a jump gone awry and a misunderstanding between her and her horse. Despite the injuries, both physical and to the ego - that we have encountered, the love she has for these animals is steadfast and unwavering . Their lessons can be humbling but must be respected. Perhaps only an equestrian can understand that concept. We can truly understand the devotion Barbaro's owners had for him.

For the commitment that Barbaro's owners have had and continue to have and for the endless hours of compassionate attention his caregivers gave him - we offer two paws up. May his legacy continue and his memory remain in every animal lover's heart.

"Grief is the price we pay for love."

Sibe Vibes for Tia

Hi Everybuddy -

Today we're thinking of Tia, and her devoted sister Sitka. It's Tia's 15th Birthday today but she's spending it in the feline hospital trying to get better so she can come home. You can read about her on Sitka and Tia's Blog. We know Sibe Vibes are very powerful things so we're sending some her way. We've also added some little angels to watch over her while she's away from Sitka and her Mom. We'll think good thoughts and hope for good news today.

Doglets

Hi Everybuddy -

It's been a pretty quiet week. I was able to get caught up on alot of napping.......and pondering. Pondering is always good for any Siberian to do. It keeps the brain from turning to mush. Here I am hard at work, pondering:





Something came to mind. I had once heard about something called Sniglets. Some of you may know what they are. I find them to be rather fascinating. Sniglets are best described as words that should be in the dictionary but aren't. Hmmm. That's sounds amusing doesn't it? Here are some examples -

Blooage (blew' ij) - n. The residue left on fingers after using an S.O.S pad

Cinemuck - n. The combination of popcorn, soda, and melted chocolate which covers the floors of movie theaters.

Doork (dawrk) - n. A person who always pushes on a door marked "pull" or vice versa.

Facon - n. The fake bacon bits served at cheap salad bars

Flopcorn (flop' korn) - n. The unpopped kernels at the bottom of the bag

Wattbobble (wat' bah bul) - v. To remove a hot light bulb by turning it several seconds, letting your fingers cool, then repeating the process.


Interesting huh? This got me to thinking. I'm going to make a list of Doglets - canine associated words that should be in the dictionary but aren't. For instance:

schmoo - the substance left behind on a window after we've looked out of it. This term is not to be confused with Meeshka's nickname of Schmoo since that's with a capital "S" and not a small "s".

Zoomies - the art of running through the house at full speed with no particular destination.

Does anyone else want to add to my list of Doglets? Let's have some fun with this! Happy Friday!

New Canine Security System

Hi Everybuddy -

We just read an amusing story about a dumb criminal who tried to run away from the police in North Carolina. He drove his car real fast then decided to hop out and run. He ran through somebuddy's yard who had 4 dogs - just like us. Guess what he stepped in?? YEP! Dog poo! That was quite a break for the police officers who were chasing him because they were able to find evidence of where he went and they were also able to have a print of his shoe in one of the piles. How about that! I told Mom she should be more grateful for our piles. Those piles represent an enhanced security system for this house! She shouldn't be so quick to scoop them all up. Probably the one with the pile most likely to catch a crook would be - believe it or not - Shadow's.

Oh yes! It's true. Don't let that innocent face fool you. Her piles often astound us. This is what you see on a cold day from across the county:

One time she had it piled in a way that our boy was certain she was trying to signal the Mother Ship. So now, instead of teasing her about her piles we should thank her for keeping us safe. Who knew??

Dollars For Collars

Hi Everybuddy -

We have some decisions to make. Mom ran across an interesting article regarding some collars that are being sold. Oh these aren't just ANY collars! Take a look at this one:

This particular collar belonged to a Pug who was owned by the Duchess and Duke of Windsor a long, long time ago. There is an auction for items like this in New York City which will be held to coincide with the Westminster Kennel Club's All Breed Dog Show in February, at Bonhams Auction House. The one pictured above is expected to sell for at least $3,000.00. HOLY HUSKIES! That's alot of money! This got us thinking. We have some of our old collars lying around. We asked Mom to dig them out of storage (she keeps everything "just in case"). We need to put ours up for auction. We need to decide how much they're worth. Here's Meeka inspecting his:

"I dunno. I kinda liked this one"

Here's Shadow. Does this photo not scream "Please buy me!" :

"Isn't it pretty? It's pink! "

And here I am calculating net worth:

"Since I wore it - I'd say $10,000.00"

And here's Shyla hoping Mom won't find her. She was napping in the sun:

"My collar's not for sale!"

Shyla doesn't have any extra collars since she's the new kid on the block. She was dumped at the shelter with an ugly black collar that was frayed and dirty. Certainly not fit for a girl as pretty as she! Mom assured her she can keep her bewootiful turquoise blue collar that she wears proudly. A handsome new collar with shiny tags is a big deal to a dog who was not previously loved or appreciated. To them it signifies that they are home where they belong and loved for who they are.

I'm going to have Mom give the auction coordinators a call to find out where we need to ship our collars. I'm sure they'll be thrilled to have them. What a wonderful way to raise money for those nice folks at Best Friends Animal Society! We can donate our proceeds to them!

It Can't Be!!!!

Anybuddy know what this is ?????

THAT would be snow on my Siberian snowless-for-too-long coat!
Oh my dogness! IT WORKED! The Snowman Strategy worked! Can you believe it? We were really getting angry earlier today because we heard Georgia got several inches. How does that happen? Here we are much further North and we had nuthin......not a flake. Now granted, this isn't supposed to amount to what we'd like to have but at this point we'll take it! Take a look at us basking in the flakes. Here's the Princely One in disbelief:

"Wow - Mom's snowmen really worked! "

Here's Shyla. She has seen snow before but really doesn't remember too much about it. She came to live with us in March of last year and was so underweight, and really couldn't enjoy much physical activity. Now that she's gained all the weight she needs she feels much better and is enjoying many things for the first time.

"Is this what we've been waiting for?"

After awhile Shyla started to get the hang of it:

"Woo! We're sposed to eat it??!"

And here I am doing one of my MOST favorite things! Sneaking up on Meeka! He never knows what hit him:

We're so happy we finally got some snow. Maybe it was just stuck and now that it has started, it'll keep coming. I'll let you know!

Website Wednesday

Hi Everybuddy -


It's Wednesday and that's the day I will share a website which I find noteworthy! Today I'm sharing the website for Dogtown.




Dogtown is an amazing rescue run by Best Friends Animal Society. It is located in Southern Utah and sits on over 30,000 acres. They have a staff of approximately 60 professionals - vets, vet assistants, behaviorists, trainers, and everything in between as well as many kind hearted volunteers who come from all over the country. Some regularly "vacation" at Dogtown to donate their much needed and appreciated time and love. They have a rapid response team which travels worldwide to come to the aid of animals in need. They are able to house up to 2000 animals. The ultimate goal is to provide any care required and to place them into loving homes however some never reach that goal. Many of the animals come from local shelters and rescues who recogize that Dogtown is that animal's only chance. They often require rehabilitation and medical care too costly for local groups to provide. They are often the animals that are labeled "unadoptable" due to severe behavioral issues through no fault of their own, and among their guests are 22 of Michael Vick's dogs. All of these animals have a permanent home at Dogtown and are loved and nurtured until they pass on their own with dignity and knowing they were loved. Extreme measures are taken to keep the animal thriving and happy due to the generous donations of their supporters. No medical treatment is considered too costly. We are excited to report that you can have a weekly glimpse into the inner workings of this astounding facility.




The National Geographic Channel has developed a weekly documentary that highlights the stories of various residents at Dogtown. It is aired on Saturday evenings at 9pm, but check your local listings. In past episodes you will meet Animal -




a small ball of fur who was rescued from a horrific puppy mill situation. Completely unsocialized and extremely aggressive, Sherry - a very loving and patient behaviorist - was able to earn his trust. Watch as his unique personality eventually emerges. There's Tiki and Hemi -





2 adorable puppies just a few weeks old left to bake in a tire pile in the middle of the Utah desert where temperatures reach well over 110 degrees. Their life expectancy was 24 agonizing hours in that pile. You'll watch their journey which happily ends in the arms of their new families. You'll meet Bruno -



a senior Chow who was discarded at a shelter with health issues too numerous to mention. These are the stories that make us understand how important an open mind and an open heart is in the animal world. We are aware of the atrocities human beings are capable of but it's places like Dogtown that make us see there's many more out there that have hearts so large that it almost makes up for the sadness.
For this we give the staff at Dogtown and also to National Geographic Channel two paws up!

Ho Hum Sunday

Hi Everybuddy -


It was a Ho-Hum day today. Not much of anything exciting went on this weekend. This was us working hard earlier today. There was much supervising to be done:


Mom has been coaching her snowmen since there's a slight chance of snow for our area tonight and tomorrow. She said she doesn't want us to get our hopes up though. We were outside with our snooters in the air trying to catch a whiff but so far nothing but smoke coming out of somebuddy's chimney.


We want to take a moment to send our thoughts and prayers to The Brat Pack. You recall that they just recently lost their beloved Thrawn, who was such a huge part of their pack. Their Mom very lovingly adopted a Sibe puppy named Durango from her local shelter last week.






Unfortunately they found themselves fighting an unexpected bout of Parvo for the past several days. Despite heroic efforts, precious Durango lost his battle yesterday, and went to the bridge to be with Thrawn. Their Mom is reeling from two such tragic losses so please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. We hope each new day will bring relief from her anguish and she will move on to find yet another pup in need to bring into her amazing pack.


On a brighter note, I am pleased to announce that my pack is no longer expired!



Mom and Dad went to our favorite food and treat store to get our 2008 licenses. It's about time! We were very concerned we would be busted and we'd all get hauled to dog knows where! They made it up to us by bringing home two bags of some of our favorite treats - Eagle Pack Holistix Biscuits. If you haven't tried them yet be sure to tell your Mom that Echo said they're quite yummy.


Meeka is also pleased to report that the kind people that make the PA dog licenses had him in mind this year. They are a bewootiful Royal Blue in honor of his Royal Highness.

We'd like to thank everybuddy who has signed our guest book so far.....Thank Woo! For those who haven't, please do. We love to see where everybuddy is from. We've moved it to the top of our Blog to make it more accessible.

That was our day. See......pretty uneventful. That's okay though. Uneventful is kinda good sometimes.

I Think We're Very Honored!

Hi Everybuddy -

We are so pleased to accept a fantastic award from The Army Of Four!




It's called The Thinking Blogger Award. It is given to Blogs which make readers think. Wow - we are having such a wonderful time blogging and are so touched that so many seem to enjoy reading what we have to say. With this honor comes the responsibility of passing this award on to five other Blogs. The criteria is as follows:


1. You must write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think

2. Acknowledge this post.

3. Optional: Proudly display the Thinking Blogger Award with a link to the post that you wrote.

4. Go tell your humans to fork over the treats!

It's always tough to choose just a few blogs to honor since we'd like to give it to everyone! After much thought we are passing this particular award on to:

Peanut - His Dad is in the military and is away from his pack, doing such a monumentally important job. His Mom and family are at home dealing with life without him. That always makes us think how important it is to let military families know how much we appreciate their sacrifices, and be there to support them through the hardships.

Turbo - He's running for President and makes us think about many of the world's current issues. He really seems to put things into perspective and has us all looking forward to his pending election.

Lorenza - This adorable dachshund who lives in Mexico makes us think about different cultures and how diverse our world is. It's fun to hear about the yummy foods her family prepares and how they celebrate holidays.

The Kapp Pack - Kelsey Ann's Mom makes us think about how important family is. She works as a special needs teacher and still makes time for her adorable biped, her extended family, and of course, her beloved pack, volunteers with rescue, and still keeps a sense of humor.

Five Happy Hounds - Their Mom makes us think about how big some people's hearts are. She adopts the pets that are passed by due to health or other issues, nurtures and cares for them, and gives them wonderful lives despite the heartache that often lurks just around the corner.

Congratulations friends! You make us think and that's a good thing!

Calling All Snowmen!!

Hi Everybuddy -

I'm mad! It's winter. Pennsylvania thinks it's spring. That's just WRONG! We've decided to plan a strategy to encourange Jack Frost to bring some snowflakes to PA. We've brought out all of our snowmen. If we look at them and concentrate REAL hard, it'll work! Take a look - does this not look welcoming?










This cheerful guy sits up on our mantle. Doesn't he look welcoming?












This fella sits up there with him, keeping him company.

These two guys are looking for snowflakes, just like us. They just don't understand what's going on.








This one is just hanging around (harroorooo......Amber's humor is rubbing off on me!) waiting for the fluffy flakes to arrive.








This is a new addition to Mom's collection. She liked it because it says "believe" up at the top. You can't really see it very well in this photo. She thought if we had something to remind us that we need to believe in the snow.....it will come. We'll see if that theory works.












One would think this one would help! How much more direct can one get??!!









Sorry Big Guy - no snow yet but don't worry, we have faith in you!











::sigh:: We wouldn't know.....we haven't seen many snowflakes recently.


















We even have a Snowman posted outside just to cover our bases!









Mom just had to have this one. Not that it's doing much good or anything.












Shadow decided to put it to good use.













So as you can see, there's not much more we can do! We can only dream of the glorious, white fluffy stuff.

Pee S: We apologize for the weird wraparound text. Mom tried to get creative and stagger our snowmen to keep things interesting but the text just didn't wanna cooperate. She's done saying bad words now and is calling it "artsy".

Mysterious Journey Report

Hi Everybuddy -

I am very pleased to report that all is well in our household once again. Dad and our boy returned last night and brought lots of wonderful things. Dad said he drove, and drove, and drove.......




.......... but didn't see any sign of Haggis. He's still on our minds and we're hoping he finds his way home real soon. Grandmom decided to share alot of her beloved stuff and we had a wonderful time exploring and sniffing the interesting smells. Look at all our new treasures:

"Hmmm....I wonder what's in here!"

"I smell Murphy! Murphy - are you in there??"

"Hey Mom - you've just gotta see this!"

We were hot on the scent of Murphy and were thinking that maybe he was in one of the boxes. We looked and looked but couldn't find the little fella. Dad said that Murphy (Grandmom's little guy) loved the treats and Merrick Turducken that we sent. Here's Murphy checking it all out:

And this was Murphy after his scrumptious dinner with a couple treats for dessert:

Yep. He looks pretty content to me! We were glad to be able to share our good tasting treats and food with Grandmom's little buddy.

You just wouldn't believe what Santa Paws left for Grandmom! What's Red and White and has wheels and is very cute.....(besides Shyla that is)??? Look at this:

Doesn't it look like it just rolled out of Santa's workshop? It's a GEM Car. They can use it to cruise through their retirement village and not have to use any gas since it's electric. See the plug? We think that's totally cool and maybe we'll ask Santa Paws for one next year. Maybe they have one in camoflauge! Since we're AO4 Troopers that could come in handy.

We're so glad that Dad's back and Meeka even gave back Dad's side of the bed. Life is good!